Other

Registered User

It's very generalised, so not really meant to prove anything, but could be interesting. Just to clarify that it's to record the person with dementia's (previous/present) employment, and not the carer's.

Blue Collar - Employees who work mainly with their hands.

* Unskilled - Blue collar workers who need no previous skills or knowledge to carry out the job.
* Semi - Skilled - Blue collar workers who need some skill or education to carry out the job.
* Skilled - Blue collar workers who have been trained specifically to do a particular job that involves a series of complex tasks.

White Collar - Employees who do very little physical work.

* Professional - White collar workers whose job is highly skilled and specialized. They usually must have certain training to do the job.

Registered User

I think we ought to consider another poll along the same lines, but not concentrating on work. Housewives are - or are in my experience - professionals every bit as much as some other 'professionals'. To name just one instance.

Jan was a professional, but she was also a classically trained musician, qualified to teach music and drama [though she never did... what a waste]. There's a hell of a lot of brain/body coordination involved in playing Rachmaninov... far more so than in doing many so-called professional jobs.

She was also an accomplished gardener, a great reader and crossword/jigsaw puzzler, traveller, interior designer, and the best pastry cook going!

I'll think up some categories for another poll.

By the way, I'm hoping for all polls to be moved to a separate section soon, and to encourage as many as possible to participate.

Volunteer Moderator

Just a little question - where would white collar office personnel go? Office clerical workers & PAs & so on? Or am I reading this wrong (HIGHLY probable) & it should go in professional? I voted "other" because I wasn't sure. Yes, I know, I should have asked first but with computers & me unfortunately, it's hit the key first & think later.

Registered User

Thank you for your post - it again shows that this poll really proves absolutely nothing. Apart from the small selection of people voting in this poll, there's so many other factors that haven't been taken into account, for instance Nat's suggestion, "that the family's of professionals are more likely to get online and vote". Vague categories, where people are unsure which one to choose, are yet another reason that the results will be skewed.

When there's a headline such as "Brainwork 'holds off Alzheimer's'", which Craig pointed us to, I find it annoying that such a sweeping statement can be made without any proper reference to how the data was collected and analysed. The telling statement in that article was that 'Scientists speculate...' Why are scientists allowed to do this without having any clear indication that these are cause-and-effect relationships? 10,000 birds must have landed in my garden over the past few years, sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, and yet not one eagle, so I speculate that eagles have become extinct!

I suppose some research is better than no research but such declarations can be very un-helpful! Bruce mentioned that he may begin a similar poll with different categories, so we may get a slightly better feel for any sign of connections, but remember to view with caution!

Registered User

I voted "housewife" for my mom, since that's what she was since 50 years ago (when I came along). Before that she was a librarian (master's degree professional). She was a highly intelligent woman, but in general did not pursue particularly intellectual hobbies -- she was more into needlework, arts and crafts, stamp collecting, gardening.